Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Who Fears Death

This has been such an honour to read. Onyesonwu is a child of rape, of anger and of magic. Living in a post apocalyptic African society Onye is living through a genocide of her mother’s people committed by the people of her unknown biological father. When ancient shapeshifter magic stores in her bones Onyesonwu knows she can keep her primal rage silent no more and sets into the desert to change the world.

Listen, if you are going to read this book there are a ton of trigger warnings. But, oh god is it worth it. This book is going to be one I think I about constantly. Please read it if you have the capacity.

Content Warnings

biobeetle's review

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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careinthelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This will probably be a 5 star when I reread it one day. Wow. It's a complex story, feels epic in scale, but also has relatable and realistic characters. My new favourite Nnedi Okorafor book.

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bites_of_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Dr. Nnedi Okorafor writes the most interesting characters and hasn't failed for me yet.

Here we follow Onyesonwu throughout her life as she goes through many trials to find out exactly what it is that is her purpose. Onye is a child of rape and is discriminated against because of her mixed heritage, which can be easily seen on her features. Set in a far future Sudan, this novel still carries issues that have been known in the region, such as weaponized rape, child soldiers, violence against women, racism, etc.

I really appreciated how Okorafor built the spiritual and magical aspects of the story. In many ways, they reminded me of magical realism as well as showed me a completely different way to think about ancestors and the way that people can be connected via their spiritual beliefs.

Overall what it came down to were the characters. I love it when characters aren't just the idealized hero and the perfect side characters. They are all flawed in different ways, they might be stubborn, be incredibly impatient, or even let their carnal desires take over when they might need to prioritize other things in their lives.

All in all, if you want to see a completely different take on fantasy that features a strong woman and also strong supporting partner and companions, do check this out. Do take the content warnings seriously before reading though!

Content Warnings

catalyst226's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Full of vivid imagery and a much heavier subject matter than other novels I've read by this author. I really love that Okorafor brings in a lot of cultural pieces that I'm not necessarily familiar with and weaves them into these stories.

This was also a much denser novel than others I've read from this author. There are quite a few chapters that don't necessarily add to the plot but definitely add the the characters lives and atmosphere of the story.

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kharlan3's review against another edition

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